"It's open to the public, and we really want people to come out," said Thena Robinson-Mock, executive director of the Rethinkers, the group of students and their supporters who have been working since Hurricane Katrina to change school lunches. The prize for the winning cookoff team will be the Golden Spork, which is a Rethinkers in-joke, as the dreaded plastic spork, or combination spoon and fork, epitimozed what the young thinkers wanted to change.

"The Spork holds a special place," Robinson-Mock said. "One of our first goals was to remove sporks. We are not trying to lift up the spork; we are trying to lift up what we achieved back in 2006."

The cookoff teams are mostly adult supporters of the group, who are raising money before the event. Robinson-Mock said Berry Happy Chefs, a team from the Pearl River Blues blueberry farm in Mississippi, was in the fund-raising lead. Their goal is to raise $2,222.22.

"Team Sporkify" has been hosting private dinners and brunches, and raising funds from their friends who come to the meals.

The actual competition is a mix of tropes seen in television reality cooking shows: A mystery ingredient revealed at the last minute (sort of), 30 minutes to shop for ingredients at Whole Foods, and they have to create an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. (Robinson-Mock said the mystery ingredient would be local and seasonal, and the teams have been notified that it will be either satsumas, sweet potatoes or mustard greens.)

The panel of judges will include a Rethinker who is a culinary student in the NOCCA program and chefs from the Besh Restaurant Group, as the John Besh Foundation is one of the event sponsors, as is the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and the St. James Cheese Company, which is donating food.

"At 6 p.m. when it's open to the public, what folks will see is the judging competition," Robinson-Mock said. "The purpose is to raise money for programs, but also show the work the Rethinkers have done over the years to transform their cafeterias

Attendees can sample "some crowd pleasers" in tasting cups, Robinson-Mock said, and root for teams they want to support. Some of the dishes will be raffled as well.

The cost to attend is a donation on a sliding scale, $5 to $25.

"We strongly encourage $25," Robinson-Mock said. But the sliding scale "made it so accessible to people last year. Five dollars? Everything counts for us.

"Last year we raised $10,000," between the teams and the 100 people who attended. "We hope to double that."

Last year's winner of the Giant Golden Spork: The Reheaters.

"The defending champs decided they would sit this year out," Robinson-Mock said, "but they're fund-raising for us, which is kind of awesome."